Eight years later: Why are we still waiting for a new school at Kildare's Curragh Camp?

Schools are meant to be a safe place for learning, yet at Curragh Community College, the condition of our school building tells a very different story- one of neglect, broken promises, and ongoing safety concerns.

This last year, our school has rapidly declined in safety for both students and teachers, with numerous health and safety risks which have arisen that are not being addressed fast enough by the Department of Education. Throughout this whole process, the school's management and staff have been nothing but supportive and have done everything in their power to give us the best education possible under extremely difficult circumstances.

The deteriorating condition of classrooms has had a serious impact on the health and safety of everyone in the school. Leaks through ceilings and mold in the majority of the classrooms.

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One 5th year student said, “The smell of the mold was so bad it gave me headaches throughout the lesson.” The mold and leaks have gotten so bad that there are three condemned classrooms that students are not permitted to enter.

Each classroom in each of the three blocks presents with its own different issue. For example, in Block C, a classroom had to be shut down due to leaks from the ceiling, which resulted in the use of towels to cover the electrical board, and buckets had to be placed on the floor in the classroom to catch the water. The leaks were so close to the outlets in the wall, which caused a serious safety risk to the teachers using the room.

There have been a few reports of small electrical sparks when plugging in cords. In Block A, there is one condemned classroom due to the extremely hazardous black mold and the growth of mushrooms from beneath the floor and through the ceiling. There were warning signs of this happening due to the extreme smell and damp spots on the ceiling. This also applies to a classroom in Block B that is now condemned due to leaks and dry-rotted carpets. There have been numerous reports of water leaking onto students and their desks during lessons, leading to students being distracted throughout the lesson, which affects students' learning.
A student has stated, “I'm always worried in class that the ceiling will start leaking onto me or my desk.”

Alongside the leakages, students have expressed concern over the possibility of the roof caving in, as plaster frequently falls above students. Another major safety concern expressed by the students is the freezing temperatures of 2 degrees in classrooms.

One 6th year student said, “I could see my breath in the classroom; it was that cold because the heating wasn't working.” This caused the learning, mainly of 6th year students, to be impacted greatly towards their Leaving Cert.

Alongside problems with the heating, there is a constant issue with the plumbing in the school. Sewage has come back up the pipes and spilled onto bathroom floors, posing a health and safety risk that led to students being sent home in the middle of the school day, which led to the school being closed the next day. Another incident that led to students being sent home occurred when roof slates fell due to severe weather, further demonstrating the unsafe state of the building. This greatly impacted students' safety risks.

Overcrowding is a massive issue in our school, especially in practical rooms such as the woodwork room, home economics room, and the science room. Our wood technology room is so outdated and incapable of supporting the modern tools and technologies required for the curriculum. One student got injured due to improper storage, as the room is too small to
fit proper storage units. The room also doesn't provide enough space for children to learn due to the size of the room and the number of students in the class. To make matters worse, safety switches currently trip the entire power supply to the building, raising serious concerns about the electrical infrastructure.

This is completely unacceptable in a workshop environment where power tools are in use. Without urgent upgrades, the students will fall behind, unable to engage with new technologies or meet curriculum standards.

As for our home economics room, there is a continuous matter of sheep feces being dragged into the classroom, which can cause food contamination such as E. coli, parasites, and harmful bacteria, which is extremely unsafe for students doing cookery work. Lastly, the science room is not big enough to facilitate the proper requirements for projects, as it can be
super dangerous to use hot tools like Bunsen burners and hot plates, as the tables and chairs are all compacted close together.

Some of the conditions which the students have to endure

Due to the size of our school, the hallway is always overcrowded with students and teachers trying to get to their next lesson, which causes them to be late and miss out on class time due to improper accommodation for over 300 students. There are 40 staff members sharing three single-use toilets, with a staff room that is fit to accommodate 10 people, forcing some
staff members to return to their classrooms to eat their lunch.

All of these unresolved issues have resulted in 5th and 6th year students moving into an alternative schooling arrangement in Kildare. This places a significant burden on all staff, who must commute between the Curragh and Kildare for every lesson.

“I cannot overstate how serious the situation is. This school matters deeply to me, and I want to see it thrive, not struggle under conditions that are unsafe and unsustainable. We need long-term solutions, not temporary fixes. Our students deserve better, our staff deserve better, this school deserves better,” quoted by a current teacher at Curragh Community
College.

As 6th year students, we have seen the school deteriorate over the last five years. This is frustrating and extremely unfair, given that we were promised eight years ago, on December 18, 2018, a new school, which has yet to happen. As students, we need to be heard, not just seen, as our voice matters just as much as the Department of Education's decisions towards student and school safety, which has not been a primary concern over the last eight years.

Despite the school’s failing infrastructure, the community at our school is supportive, creating an environment where students feel encouraged to succeed to their highest standard, as teachers and staff are always willing to help, whether it's with academics or personal challenges. This is why we feel that it’s not just us students that have been wronged in being promised a new school, but also all the staff that make the school a welcoming environment to learn in.

- Alannah Dunne, Ali Mcgannon and Libby Christie

Another example of mould and damp seeping through the walls and ceiling